Startups in London: Silicon Ring or Tech City
Hello everyone, we are an English company, founded by two Russian-speaking guys. We are simply called Leto and we create startups for our clients. Sometimes these are ordinary people who want to start their own business (website, mobile app, etc.), and sometimes quite large companies launching a new product or service. We started more than two years ago, and in this post I would like to tell you how London has changed and what happened in London startups during this time.
Now we are surrounded by all sorts of incubators, co-working offices, investors, start-ups (large and small), opposite the windows of our office - the notorious Google Campus , and nearby Last.fm , Songkick , Moo.com , AirBnB , and of course, TweetDeck and Amazon , and ... phew ... the list can be continued, but at least what I have - take a look .
Although let's get everything in order. Two years ago when we appeared here everything was a bit different ...
')
Akhtung: photo, traffic.
This area in east London is now called Tech City or the Silicon Ring (Silicon Roundabout) - like the Silicon Valley in California, and its historical name is Shoreditch .
It looks like Silicon Roundabout
A few years ago it was not a very popular place. It was far from the safest or most pleasant in London. But cheap offices and proximity to the center (as well as to the City of London) attracted many designers, startups, software agencies (by the way, Kaspersky Labs were also here - although only the sales department, the main office outside London). Over the past 5 years, rental rates for offices have doubled, and the density of IT companies per square kilometer is comparable to San Francisco or Palo Alto.
The main role in the development of Tech City was played by the local startup community. When we started, it was completely unorganized, unofficial, but very free, fresh and extremely active. In London, and then and now there are many different “parties” of startups. Most are in the format of "free beer, pleasant company, startups and ideas." So, every Friday for more than three years, people gather at one of the nearby bars for events called Silicon Drinkabout (pun, approximate translation “silicon booze”). No entrance fees, presentations or programs, just come to the beer and chat with people. We were lucky to be acquainted personally with the organizers of Silicon Drinkabout, and it seems to me that thanks to them (and like them), London has grown during this time as a city of startups. By the way, the last time I came to my historic homeland in Omsk, I left a Silicon Drinkabout sticker on one of the traffic lights, which these guys were terribly pleased :)
One of the evenings of Silicon Drinkabout
It looks like this
The organizers
There are many similar "parties" in London ( Minibar , Hacker News and others ), but people are about the same everywhere. In general, the whole community is about a couple of thousand people, so most startups, incubators, investors know each other personally, and often get to know each other in an informal setting. In general, it is quite difficult, if not impossible, to start a startup in London and to avoid frequent booze. The English are big drinkers.
Hacker News Meetup
The London community grew very quickly, literally before our eyes. New startups appeared, investors came from the United States and other countries. About a year and a half ago, rumors began to circulate that Google is investing in opening a large center for startups, in which there will be investors, co-working offices, start-ups and technical support and assistance from Google. And so, in March last year, Google Campus opened. We got there before the official opening, when they first held Startup Weekend . For those who do not know, Startup Weekend is an intense two-day marathon to create your startup. It, by the way, was won by one of the organizers of Silicon Roundabout with the Pollarize.me project. Now there are more than 50 startups, Seedcamp and Springboard incubators, Google itself, and Techhub’s co-working office (which is also located in Riga).
Google campus
Almost immediately after the opening of Google Campus, Wayra appeared on the scene - a new incubator from Telefonica (Europe’s mobile operator under the O2 brand with its head office in Spain). Wayra came very unexpectedly and quickly - almost all the “get-togethers” at that time were held under the auspices of Wayra, they sponsored beer, food, and anything else. The conditions were simple - submit an application for a € 50,000 investment and place in their new incubator. There were more than 1000 applications, but only 16 teams won.
Wayra Academy London
Special mention deserves state participation in the development of startups. In May last year, all the same guys from Silicon Drinkabout made a party on campus with officials from TCIO (Tech City Investment Organization). Your humble servant, a programmer from Siberia, who by the will of fate turned out to be at this event, without any formalities and subordination could freely communicate over beer with the guys from TCIO, including the assistants to the Prime Minister of the country. Then they, by the way, promised to come to grips with the problems with the visa regime, and in some way even kept their promise, but more on that later.
In addition to this event, various conferences and the usual "booze" with the participation of the state take place almost every week. Anyone can come there, as a rule, without an admission fee and no checks. Another of the guys at Silicon Drinkabout was invited to the position of deputy director of the TCIO, which we were also extremely happy about, but surprised as he was (imagine that some simple IT blogger in Russia becomes Skolkovo).
Today London is more active than ever. Many people compare the spirit that now hovers in London with sensations in San Francisco and in Silicon Valley in general. You can go to any cafe or bar in Tech City, and most likely you will see a company of startups, people with laptops, investors and other people connected to startups in one way or another. The creation of new businesses, innovations, IT companies - all this is what the British government calls priority, hoping in this way to restore the shaky economy in crisis.
Typical bars and cafes in Shoreditch
Unfortunately, with visas for non-European citizens in England, so far everything is not at all healthy, although it has become much better lately. The ideal option for startups, today is an entrepreneur visa (Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa). To get it, you need to either find an accredited investor in England (an incubator, such as the Seedcamp, for example) who will agree to invest a minimum of ÂŁ 50,000 in your startup, or independently find the ÂŁ 200,000 that you are ready to invest in your business here. In addition, we know that several London universities are actively lobbying for the program of transfer of foreign students to entrepreneurs, but, as far as we know, it has not yet been considered by Parliament. From a different front, the start-up community is doing all it can to ease the conditions for obtaining visas for those who already do business (after all, besides Russians, there are a lot of Americans, Canadians, Australians who, strangely enough, face the same visa barriers). So far this struggle has not brought results, but we are monitoring the situation, and as soon as there is news, we will definitely tell Habra.
In conclusion, I would like to say that we love London very much and it’s true that it’s great to lead your startup here. Unfortunately, we will need more than one and not even two posts to tell everything that is happening here, so we will be happy to hear any questions and comments, and, if necessary, tell us more.
Greetings to Habra from foggy Albion!
Team Summer
Now we are surrounded by all sorts of incubators, co-working offices, investors, start-ups (large and small), opposite the windows of our office - the notorious Google Campus , and nearby Last.fm , Songkick , Moo.com , AirBnB , and of course, TweetDeck and Amazon , and ... phew ... the list can be continued, but at least what I have - take a look .
Although let's get everything in order. Two years ago when we appeared here everything was a bit different ...
')
Akhtung: photo, traffic.
This area in east London is now called Tech City or the Silicon Ring (Silicon Roundabout) - like the Silicon Valley in California, and its historical name is Shoreditch .
It looks like Silicon Roundabout
A few years ago it was not a very popular place. It was far from the safest or most pleasant in London. But cheap offices and proximity to the center (as well as to the City of London) attracted many designers, startups, software agencies (by the way, Kaspersky Labs were also here - although only the sales department, the main office outside London). Over the past 5 years, rental rates for offices have doubled, and the density of IT companies per square kilometer is comparable to San Francisco or Palo Alto.
The main role in the development of Tech City was played by the local startup community. When we started, it was completely unorganized, unofficial, but very free, fresh and extremely active. In London, and then and now there are many different “parties” of startups. Most are in the format of "free beer, pleasant company, startups and ideas." So, every Friday for more than three years, people gather at one of the nearby bars for events called Silicon Drinkabout (pun, approximate translation “silicon booze”). No entrance fees, presentations or programs, just come to the beer and chat with people. We were lucky to be acquainted personally with the organizers of Silicon Drinkabout, and it seems to me that thanks to them (and like them), London has grown during this time as a city of startups. By the way, the last time I came to my historic homeland in Omsk, I left a Silicon Drinkabout sticker on one of the traffic lights, which these guys were terribly pleased :)
One of the evenings of Silicon Drinkabout
It looks like this
The organizers
There are many similar "parties" in London ( Minibar , Hacker News and others ), but people are about the same everywhere. In general, the whole community is about a couple of thousand people, so most startups, incubators, investors know each other personally, and often get to know each other in an informal setting. In general, it is quite difficult, if not impossible, to start a startup in London and to avoid frequent booze. The English are big drinkers.
Hacker News Meetup
Google Campus and friends
The London community grew very quickly, literally before our eyes. New startups appeared, investors came from the United States and other countries. About a year and a half ago, rumors began to circulate that Google is investing in opening a large center for startups, in which there will be investors, co-working offices, start-ups and technical support and assistance from Google. And so, in March last year, Google Campus opened. We got there before the official opening, when they first held Startup Weekend . For those who do not know, Startup Weekend is an intense two-day marathon to create your startup. It, by the way, was won by one of the organizers of Silicon Roundabout with the Pollarize.me project. Now there are more than 50 startups, Seedcamp and Springboard incubators, Google itself, and Techhub’s co-working office (which is also located in Riga).
Google campus
Wayra and colleagues
Almost immediately after the opening of Google Campus, Wayra appeared on the scene - a new incubator from Telefonica (Europe’s mobile operator under the O2 brand with its head office in Spain). Wayra came very unexpectedly and quickly - almost all the “get-togethers” at that time were held under the auspices of Wayra, they sponsored beer, food, and anything else. The conditions were simple - submit an application for a € 50,000 investment and place in their new incubator. There were more than 1000 applications, but only 16 teams won.
Wayra Academy London
Tech City Investment Organization
Special mention deserves state participation in the development of startups. In May last year, all the same guys from Silicon Drinkabout made a party on campus with officials from TCIO (Tech City Investment Organization). Your humble servant, a programmer from Siberia, who by the will of fate turned out to be at this event, without any formalities and subordination could freely communicate over beer with the guys from TCIO, including the assistants to the Prime Minister of the country. Then they, by the way, promised to come to grips with the problems with the visa regime, and in some way even kept their promise, but more on that later.
In addition to this event, various conferences and the usual "booze" with the participation of the state take place almost every week. Anyone can come there, as a rule, without an admission fee and no checks. Another of the guys at Silicon Drinkabout was invited to the position of deputy director of the TCIO, which we were also extremely happy about, but surprised as he was (imagine that some simple IT blogger in Russia becomes Skolkovo).
Today London is more active than ever. Many people compare the spirit that now hovers in London with sensations in San Francisco and in Silicon Valley in general. You can go to any cafe or bar in Tech City, and most likely you will see a company of startups, people with laptops, investors and other people connected to startups in one way or another. The creation of new businesses, innovations, IT companies - all this is what the British government calls priority, hoping in this way to restore the shaky economy in crisis.
Typical bars and cafes in Shoreditch
Unfortunately, with visas for non-European citizens in England, so far everything is not at all healthy, although it has become much better lately. The ideal option for startups, today is an entrepreneur visa (Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa). To get it, you need to either find an accredited investor in England (an incubator, such as the Seedcamp, for example) who will agree to invest a minimum of ÂŁ 50,000 in your startup, or independently find the ÂŁ 200,000 that you are ready to invest in your business here. In addition, we know that several London universities are actively lobbying for the program of transfer of foreign students to entrepreneurs, but, as far as we know, it has not yet been considered by Parliament. From a different front, the start-up community is doing all it can to ease the conditions for obtaining visas for those who already do business (after all, besides Russians, there are a lot of Americans, Canadians, Australians who, strangely enough, face the same visa barriers). So far this struggle has not brought results, but we are monitoring the situation, and as soon as there is news, we will definitely tell Habra.
In conclusion, I would like to say that we love London very much and it’s true that it’s great to lead your startup here. Unfortunately, we will need more than one and not even two posts to tell everything that is happening here, so we will be happy to hear any questions and comments, and, if necessary, tell us more.
Greetings to Habra from foggy Albion!
Team Summer
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/169557/
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